Vehicle Cargo Enclosure Side Pocket

ABSTRACT

A cargo enclosure for a vehicle includes a side panel having at least one pocket is formed therein. The pocket has a back wall, a pair of opposing side walls and a front wall having an aperture therein. A bottom surface of the pocket is canted downwardly from the back wall toward the aperture in the front wall such that any debris or other material that may infiltrate the pocket will readily slide down the canted bottom surface, through the aperture and onto a bottom surface of the cargo enclosure.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/147,030 filed on Jun. 7, 2005. The disclosure of the aboveapplication is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention relates generally to vehicle cargo enclosures, such ascargo beds and bed liners. More particularly the invention relates tocargo enclosure divider and side rail pockets formed within a side panelof the cargo enclosure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Typical vehicle utility beds include a steel welded bed with a plasticliner disposed within the steel bed. Alternatively, the bed can be aone-piece plastic molded utility bed. The bottoms of such plastic bedsand liners generally have a plurality of ridges extending longitudinallyapproximately the length of the plastic bed or liner from the tail gateof the bed toward the front of the bed. Since the ridges extendlongitudinally, i.e. lengthwise, debris or other material deposited inthe bed or liner can be easily cleaned or removed from the bottom of thebed or liner using a broom, water hose or air hose.

Most contemporary beds and liners also include pockets formed with sidepanels of the bed or liner for retaining bed dividers and/or side railstakes. Such divider/side rail pockets tend to gather, accumulate andretain small debris or other materials. Small debris and/or othermaterials that have collected in the pockets are difficult to removefrom the pockets and can interfere with using the pocket to retain a beddivider and/or side rail stake. Often a small brush or other suitabletool is required to remove the collected debris or other material.

Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a vehicle cargo enclosure,such as a cargo bed or bed liner, that incorporates divider and/or siderail stake pockets that resist collecting and accumulating debris orother materials.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment of the present invention, a vehicle cargo enclosure isprovided. The cargo enclosure includes a side panel having at least onepocket formed within or connected thereto. The pocket has a back walland a pair of opposing side walls that include a substantially verticalupper portion and a bottom portion that is canted downwardly from therespective side wall toward the opposing side wall. The pocketadditionally includes a front wall that includes an aperture, e.g. aslot, such that the back wall, side walls and front wall form asubstantially C-shaped elongated recess within the cargo enclosure sidepanel. A bottom surface of the pocket adjoins each of the back walls,the side walls and the first and second front partitions. The bottomsurface is canted downwardly from the back wall toward the aperture inthe front wall such that any small debris or material that mayinfiltrate the pocket will readily slide down the canted bottom surface,through the aperture and onto a bottom surface of the cargo enclosure.Therefore, the debris or material does not accumulate within the pocket,but instead falls onto the cargo enclosure bottom where it can be easilyand readily removed.

In one implementation, the aperture within the front wall is adapted toretain a cargo enclosure divider such as 2″×6″ board or any othersuitable structure that can be utilized to divide the cargo enclosureinto a plurality of sections, areas, portions or compartments. Inanother implementation, the substantially C-shaped recess is adapted toretain a cargo enclosure side rail stake and simultaneously orseparately also retain a cargo enclosure divider within the aperturewithin the front wall.

Further areas of applicability of the present invention will becomeapparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It shouldbe understood that the detailed description and specific examples, whileindicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended forpurposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope ofthe invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description and accompanying drawings, wherein;

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a vehicle cargo enclosure, in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 2A is a sectional view of a portion of the cargo enclosure shown inFIG. 1 that includes a cargo enclosure divider retaining pocket, inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2B is a sectional view of a portion of the cargo enclosure shown inFIG. 1 that includes a side rail stake retaining pocket, in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 2C is a sectional view of a portion of the cargo enclosure shown inFIG. 1 that includes a combined cargo enclosure divider and side railstake retaining pocket, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3A is a front view of the retaining pocket shown in FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3B is top view of the retaining pocket shown in FIG. 2C;

FIG. 3C is cross-sectional front view of the retaining pocket shown inFIG. 3B along line B-B;

FIG. 3D is cross-sectional side view of the retaining pocket shown inFIG. 3B along line A-A;

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an alternate embodiment of the retainingpocket shown in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is an illustration of another alternate embodiment of theretaining pocket shown in FIG. 2.

Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views of drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following description of the preferred embodiment(s) is merelyexemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention,its application, or uses.

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of vehicle cargo enclosure 10 in accordancewith the present invention. The cargo enclosure 10 includes anyenclosure or structure suitable for holding and/or hauling any type ofcargo, e.g. sand, dirt, gravel and any other material, apparatus,equipment, machinery or device, such as a utility bed or a utility bedliner. The cargo enclosure 10 includes a front panel 14, a pair of sidepanels 18, a tail gate 22 and a bottom surface 26. The tail gate 22pivotally connects to the cargo enclosure bottom surface 26 along a backedge 28 of the cargo enclosure bottom surface 26. The front panel 14 andthe side panels adjoin the bottom surface 26. Although the front panel14, side panels 18 and bottom surface 26 are described herein asadjoining, it should be understood that the front panel 14, side panels18 and bottom surface 26 can be molded as a unitary piece.Alternatively, the front panel 14, side panels 18 and bottom surface 26can be fabricated separately and then connected to form three sides anda bottom of the cargo enclosure 10. The bottom surface 26 includes aplurality of raised ridges 30 that extend longitudinally from the backedge 28 to an opposing end of the cargo enclosure bottom surface 26 thatadjoins the front panel 14. Alternatively, the cargo enclosure bottomsurface 26 could have a substantially flat form that is textured orsmooth.

The side panels 18 each include at least one pocket 34. In oneimplementation, the pockets 34 are adapted to retain a cargo enclosuredivider, such 2″×6″ board or any other suitable structure that can beutilized to divide the cargo enclosure into a plurality of sections,areas, portions or compartments. In another implementation, the pockets34 are adapted to retain a cargo enclosure side rail stake. The siderail stake should be understood to mean a substantially verticalstructure or post adapted to support other structures, such as siderails, side walls or utility racks. In yet another implementation, thepockets 34 are adapted to simultaneously retain a cargo enclosuredivider and a side rail stake. The pockets 34 can be formed, e.g.molded, as an integral part of the side panels 18 or formedindependently and then inserted within or connected to the side panels18.

Referring to FIGS. 2A through 2C, each pocket 34 includes a back wall 38and a front wall 40 that adjoin a pair of opposing side walls 42. Theback wall 38, front wall 40 and side walls 42 adjoin a canted pocketbottom surface 46. Although the back wall 38, front wall 40, side walls42 and pocket bottom surface 46 are described herein as adjoining, itshould be understood that each pocket 34 is preferably a molded pocketthat is either integrally formed with or connected to the cargoenclosure side panels 18, as described above. Thus, the back wall 38,the front wall 40, the side walls 42 and the bottom surface 46 of eachpocket 34 forms a continuous interior surface of the respective pocket34. Alternatively, any one, or all, of the back wall 38, front wall 40,side walls 42 and bottom surface 46 can be independently fabricated andassembled to form the respective pocket 34.

The front wall 40 of each pocket 34 includes an aperture 50 that allowsany small debris or other material, e.g. sand, dirt or gravel, that mayinfiltrate the pocket 34 to readily slide down the canted bottom surface46, through the aperture and onto the cargo enclosure bottom surface 26.As illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2C, in various embodiments, the aperture50 forms a slot, or elongated opening, extending a height H of the frontwall 40 that is adapted to retain a cargo enclosure divider. Thus, theaperture 50, in combination with the back wall 38, the front wall 40 andthe side walls 42 forms a substantially C-shaped recess that comprisesthe pocket 34. When the pockets 34 are adapted to retain a cargoenclosure divider and/or a side rail stake, as illustrated in FIG. 2C,the aperture 50 sub-divides the front wall 40 into a first partition 54adjoining one of the side walls 42 and a second partition 58 adjoiningthe opposing side wall 42.

Referring now to FIG. 3A through 3D, the pocket bottom surface 46 iscanted downwardly from the back wall 38 toward the aperture 50 at apredetermined angle α, as most clearly shown in FIG. 3D. The angle α canbe an angle suitable to allow small debris or other material, e.g. sand,dirt or gravel, that infiltrates the pocket 34 to readily slide down thecanted bottom surface 46 generally due to the force of gravity. To morethoroughly and completely remove any debris or other material from thepocket 34, forced water, e.g. water from a hose or a power washer, canbe sprayed into the pocket 34. Additionally, other forces such as air orsweeping may be applied to thoroughly and completely remove any debrisor other material from the pocket 34. But, generally, the angle α issubstantially steep enough that most, or substantially all, the debrisor other material will slide down the canted bottom surface 46 onto thecargo enclosure bottom surface 26 as a result of gravity. For example,the pocket bottom surface 46 can be canted at an angle approximatelybetween 30° and 75° relative to the cargo enclosure bottom surface 46.More preferably, the pocket bottom surface 46 is canted at an angleapproximately between 45° and 60° relative to the cargo enclosure bottomsurface 46.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 3C and 3D, when the pocket 34 is adapted toretain a cargo enclosure divider and/or a side rail stake, each of theside walls 42 include a substantially vertical upper portion 62 and acanted bottom portion 66. The bottom portion 66 is canted downwardlyfrom the respective side wall upper portion 62 toward the opposing sidewall 42 at a predetermined angle β. The angle β can be an angle suitableto allow debris or other material that infiltrates the pocket 34 toreadily slide down the side wall canted bottom portions 66, onto thecanted pocket bottom surface 46 and then onto the cargo enclosure bottomsurface 26 generally due to the force of gravity. Other forces such asair, water or sweeping may be applied to thoroughly and completelyremove any debris or other material from the pocket 34. But, generally,the angle β is substantially steep enough that the most, orsubstantially all, the debris or other material will slide down thecanted side wall bottom portions 66 onto canted bottom surface 46 andonto the cargo enclosure bottom surface 26 as a result of gravity. Forexample, the side wall bottom portions can be canted at an angleapproximately between 30° and 75° relative to the cargo enclosure bottomsurface 46. More preferably, the side wall bottom portions are canted atan angle approximately between 45° and 60° relative to the cargoenclosure bottom surface 46.

Referring again to FIG. 2C, in one embodiment, a front edge 70 of thecanted pocket bottom surface 46 adjoins the cargo enclosure bottomsurface 26 within the aperture 50 between the first and second frontpartitions 54 and 58.

Referring now to FIG. 4, in another embodiment, the front edge 70 of thecanted pocket bottom surface 46 adjoins the cargo enclosure bottomsurface 26 at a location substantially collinear with a junction line Lwhere an exterior surface 74 of the cargo enclosure side panel 18adjoins the cargo enclosure bottom surface 26.

Referring now to FIG. 5, in yet another embodiment, the front edge 70 ofthe canted pocket bottom surface 46 adjoins the cargo enclosure bottomsurface 26 at a location beyond the junction line L.

Thus, the vehicle utility cargo enclosure 10 of the present inventionincludes the pockets 34 that are adapted to resist collecting oraccumulating debris or other materials. More specifically, the cantedbottom surface 46 and/or the canted side wall bottom portions 66 of eachpocket 34 are canted such that gravity will cause most, or substantiallyall, debris or other material that infiltrate the pockets 34 to slidedown the canted surfaces 46 and/or 66 and then be disposed onto thecargo enclosure bottom surface 26.

The description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and,thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention areintended to be within the scope of the invention. Such variations arenot to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of theinvention

1. A vehicle cargo enclosure, said cargo enclosure comprising opposingside panels, each side panel including at least one pocket having abottom surface canted from a back wall of the pocket downwardly towardan aperture in a front wall.